A soldier from the M23 rebel group looks on as thousands of Congolese people listen during an M23 rally, in Goma, eastern Congo, on Wednesday. / Marc Hofer, AP

by USA TODAY

by USA TODAY

GOMA, Congo (AP) - The M23 rebels pressed ahead with their seizure of territory and towns in eastern Congo on Wednesday and said they intend to topple the government of President Joseph Kabila.

The rebels took control of the eastern Congo town of Sake in a bid to move toward the provincial capital of Bukavu.

"Kabila has to go. We want our country back," said M23 Col. Vianney Kazarama to cheers from thousands gathered at the stadium in Goma, which was seized by the rebels on Tuesday. "We are now going to Kinshasa. No one will divide this country."

Nearly 3,000 Congolese army soldiers and police defected to the rebels in Goma on Wednesday and turned in their weapons at the stadium rally.

Even as the rebels consolidated their gains, the presidents of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda called on them to give up the territory they now control.

The M23 is made up of hundreds of officers who deserted the Congo army in April this year. Neighboring Rwanda has supplied trained soldiers and weapons, according to a report by United Nations experts to be published Friday.

The speed with which the M23 has seized Goma and the surrounding countryside, rich in minerals, exposes the weakness of President Joseph Kabila's government, 978 miles to the west in Kinshasa, say experts.

"It's a setback for Kabila. He wasn't even capable of reforming the army and the fall of Goma demonstrated that," said Felix Bafilemba. "It marks the beginning of the end for Kabila's regime."

Strewn with bodies, burned out vehicles and abandoned tanks, the road between Goma and Sake showed evidence of Tuesday's fighting.

M23 soldiers in vehicles patrolled the streets of Sake, 17 miles south of Goma. As in Goma, most residents accepted the rebels' presence.

"We only want peace," said Innocent Rumabo in Sake.

Other resident complained of rapes carried out Tuesday night.

"I know two women who were raped, there are more in the area," said one Goma resident who insisted on anonymity for fear of retaliation.

In neighboring Uganda, the presidents of Uganda, Rwanda and Congo resolved to put pressure on the M23 rebels to give up territory they have captured, according to a statement released at the end of the emergency talks.

"Even if there are legitimate grievances by the mutineering group known as M23, they cannot accept the expansion of this war or entertain the idea of overthrowing the legitimate government of (Congo) or undermining its authority," said presidents Joseph Kabila of Congo, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, in a statement issued late Wednesday.

"Therefore the M23 must immediately stop this offensive and pull out of Goma," said the presidents' statement issued in Kampala. This resolution was to be immediately communicated to the M23 leadership, the statement said.

Kabila said he was willing to negotiate directly with the M23 rebels, a reversal from his previous refusal to talk with the rebels.

For his part, Kagame reiterated Rwanda's denial that it is supporting the rebels, saying each government "must bear the burden" of its own internal problems, according to a diplomat close to the talks, who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the emergency summit.

Uganda, which was also implicated in the Congo violence by report of U.N. experts, denies supporting the rebels.

While the three presidents called on the M23 to give up the territory that they have seized, the rebels continued Wednesday on toward their next target: Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province on Lake Kivu.

The Congo soldiers remaining in the government army near Goma said they are not sure what to do.

"We are waiting for orders now. We don't know what we are supposed to do. It's hard. My comrades who defected in Goma, we're going to fight them," said a Congolese army major reached by phone in Kanyabayonga, northwest of Goma, where some of the troops have regrouped. The major required anonymity because of the uncertain situation.

The United Nations accuses the M23 of grave crimes including recruiting child soldiers, summary executions and rape, according to an experts report released Wednesday.

The United Nations peacekeepers, known by their acronym MONUSCO, did not help the Congo government forces during Tuesday's battle because they do not have a mandate to engage the rebels, said Congolese military spokesman Olivier Hamuli, who expressed frustration over the lack of action by the peacekeepers.

A U.N. spokesman in New York said that the nearly 1,500 U.N. peacekeepers in Goma held their fire to avoid triggering a battle. The peacekeepers "cannot substitute for the efforts of national forces" in Congo, said spokesman Eduardo del Buey.

On Wednesday the Security Council was expected to review the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo. A resolution adopted Tuesday by the Security Council asks the U.N. secretary-general to recommend possible redeployment, and possible "additional force multipliers."

The resolution approved unanimously by the council imposes targeted sanctions, including a travel ban and assets freeze on the M23 rebel group leadership. But it did not name two countries accused by Congo of supporting the rebels: Rwanda and Uganda.

The council demanded that the M23 rebels withdraw from Goma, disarm and disband, and insisted on the restoration of the crumbing Congolese government authority in the country's turbulent east.

The resolution also calls for an immediate end to external support to the rebels and asks the U.N. secretary-general to report on the allegations of foreign support while expressing its readiness to take appropriate measures.

Rwanda, and to a smaller extent by Uganda, are accused among other things of equipping the rebels with sophisticated arms, including night vision goggles and 120 mm mortars.